Embodiments of the inventive subject matter generally relate to the field of computing, and, more particularly, to a broker service system to acquire location based image data.
Providing or acquiring accurate and timely location-specific image data to a requestor as to the conditions at a given location is a complex task. There exist many scenarios, in which access to image material may be important to improve the situational awareness, such as to obtain an overview, to quickly spot potential issues, or to understand causes for problems.
For example, understanding the traffic situation on a highway, e.g., after a road accident or under difficult weather circumstances, requires authorities to send out patrol cars or helicopters, possibly equipped with cameras, to picture and transmit the current state to the headquarters or other road users.
Another example may be to efficiently respond to emergency situations, e.g., road or chemical accidents, fire outbreaks or environmental incidents. Emergency services critically depend on early and accurate information as to the current conditions in the area, in order to prepare rescue operations, recognize access points, and evaluate risks.
Further, in another example, a private person planning to attend an event wants to know about the state of free parking spots and the rush on the area of interest.
For providing location-specific image data, it is conventionally employed to install cameras at fixed points, e.g., surveillance cameras, web cams, cars and helicopters patrolling and reporting to headquarters, and military satellite systems.
However, these solutions are generally time-consuming and costly to operate and are not flexible in terms of coverage. Fixed cameras can only provide surveillance information of a very limited area, where they have been installed, while possibly being able to provide a 360-degree view; they may not be applicable to remote areas.
To cover such areas, a vehicle might be sent out or satellites imagery must be requested. This renders the image gathering process expensive in terms of time and money.
Moreover, the conventional solutions are furthermore reserved to authorities. On the other side, a private person interested in a certain current parking spot situation or the crowdedness at a certain location, e.g. at some beach, may not be able to obtain such information.
Another solution for providing location-specific image data is to take stock photos from an image data base of the certain location of interest. Such an offline solution has the disadvantage that no live or actual data can be provided. Further, mandates may be given to photographers for taking location-specific image data from the certain location. However, also this solution has the disadvantage that no live actual data can be provided and further the solution may be very costly.
Moreover, for acquiring location-specific image data, oral requests to pilots or drivers may be given to have a report about situations in the certain location or locations of interest.
Protecting the location privacy of users has been studied in the context of location-based services, e.g., where users request more information, such as restaurants, weather conditions, tourist information, depending on their current location.